Sex has always been and always will be a controversial issue. I doubt that anyone likes having the birds and bees discussion with their wide eyed and bushy tailed 10 year old. But what is becoming clear is that sex education needs to be taught and at an even younger age. As parents, we desperately want to believe that our children will remain virgins forever because I don't think we could handle the mental image of our children being sexually active. But the reality of today's situation is becoming more and more alarming.
I would rather have my daughter equipped with the knowledge about sex and all that it entails, than have her blindly walking into situations with second hand information. Knowledge is power and in this case, it's power one cannot afford to be without. STD's, AIDS/HIV, teenage pregnancies, the list of frightening problems is truly endless.
TWO leading medical societies have stressed that sex education should be taught in schools ‘from a very young age’. The Spanish Contraception Foundation (FEC) and the Spanish Contraception Society (SEC) say that children rarely receive necessary information about sexual relations at home and they are not taught enough – nor sufficiently early – in school. This means they learn about the birds and the bees via the internet, or via classmates of the same age.
Another recent survey revealed that a significant number of heterosexual adult women believed the contraceptive pill helped to prevent the transmission of HIV in addition to stopping pregnancy. This is a concept that seems to stem from the stone age and is still being believed in the 21st century, that should be enough of a wake up call.
The two associations have also reminded doubters that evidence has shown that the availability of the morning after pill over the counter does not lead to an increase in underage sex. The organizations also said they were in favor of teenagers being able to have an abortion without parental consent or knowledge. Breathe.....
They said that children should feel able to discuss sex and unwanted pregnancy with their families, but in cases where parents and children do not have a good relationship, a young girl’s lack of freedom to choose to abort without telling her mother and father could have harmful consequences all round. I tend to agree with this line of thinking. As frightening as this must seem to some parents, these are problems we cannot afford to ignore. Pretending these things don't happen is making the situation worse, let's be honest and provide these solutions so that we can safeguard our kids. It's not the ideal situation but it's the best we can do.
